For my second book this semester, I decided to read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I have really wanted to read this book for a long time, because I saw and loved the movie ever since I was young. This book lived up to every one of my standards. This story takes place in the 1990’s, where one of the world’s major breakthroughs is in genetic engineering. Throughout the world, hundreds of private genetic engineering companies have been established for one purpose; making a profit. As Hammond states when he is speaking with Dr. Wu, “And, you remember, our original intent was to use the newly emerging technology of genetic engineering to make money. A lot of money” (222). One of these companies, InGen, started a project to try and recreate dinosaurs. They succeed, and attempt to make an amusement park that displays the dinosaurs, but then they realize that there are several malfunctions within the park and the dinosaurs cannot be contained.

My favorite character in this book so far is Ian Malcolm. He is a world renowned mathematician and theorist, but is more of a celebrity for his many breakthroughs and speculations. One of the reasons he is my favorite character is because of his personality. He is smart, witty, and humorous, something that few characters in stories possess. He also does not anyone else’s opinions sway his own, even when it may differ from the rest of the world. As Ian Malcolm says to Dr. Sattler, “I believe my life has value, and I don’t want to waste it thinking about clothing. I don’t want to think about what I will wear in the morning. Truly, can you imagine anything more boring than fashion? Professional sports, perhaps. Grown men swatting little balls, while the rest of the world pays money to applaud. But, on the whole, I find fashion even more tedious than sports” (80). Ian Malcolm plays a major role in this book for the reason that he does not approve of the idea of Dr. Hammond’s amusement park. Everyone else believes that it is a groundbreaking discovery, and something that will change the world and bring huge profits to themselves. Yet, Malcolm believes that dinosaurs became extinct for a reason, and they should stay that way. Everyone believes that he is insane, but he persists, always using good logic to back up his arguments, and eventually they see that he is correct. I think that it is important for people to always persist in their own beliefs, and not get swayed easily by others. I also think that being able to use logic and reasoning is a useful skill. Someone like this that I know is my Dad. Whenever he is in a discussion or argument with someone, it is almost impossible to win, because he will keep coming back at you with arguments that make sense or that might destroy his opponent’s. He will not get swayed to another position on an issue either, unless he hears something appealing that makes sense.

Right now, I love this book. It combines my two favorite subjects, science and literature, and creates an entertaining story that keeps me hooked for hours on end.

One response to “Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton”

One of the main themes of Jurassic Park is one of Ian Malcolm’s theories, called Chaos Theory. It is generally a theory about “non-linear equations,” or things that humans are not able to predict flawlessly, like the weather. If a person were to start with all the same factors for a certain type of weather, like temperature, humidity, etc, and enter them into a computer, the two weathers that you inserted would quickly begin to wander off into different directions, and pretty soon you would have two completely different types of weathers. It is similar to the Butterfly effect. The flapping of a butterfly’s wings have been proven to be able to set in motion winds that could later begin a tornado or hurricane. In conclusion, Malcolm believes that there is no way that people are able to contain dinosaurs, creatures from millions of years ago, in paddocks and not expect some sort of issue to arise.

Something I do not like about this book is how people react to the sight of the dinosaurs. Most people would never dream of seeing these massive creatures in real life, but after the first encounter with them, it seems as if the characters have grown used to them. At one point, Timmy basically says “WOW, there is only ONE dilophosaurus. How boring.” What?!? In real life, people would be freaking out, excited to see just one of these giant lizards, much more a whole park full of them.

One character that is of particular interest in Dr. Hammond, the founder of Jurassic Park. Throughout the novel, he seems completely oblivious to the several malfunctions that are present in his park, and is constantly pushing people to only see the bright side of things when there is a definitive dark side. Even after the dinosaurs begin to escape from their enclosures, he still seems to believe that everything is fine. Out of all the people in this book, he seems like the one that would develop the most but in the end he doesn’t. As a conversation between Muldoon and Hammond goes:
“Hammond whined. ‘But what are you going to do to my animals?
‘That’s not really the question, Mr. Hammond,’ Muldoon said. ‘The question is, what are they going to do to us?’” (p. 303).

In the end, this book is now one of my favorite reads, and I would give it a 10/10. It combines all of my favorite things into one story, and brings out several elements like mystery, action, adventure, and science.